I'll Never Forget You
by jessica-m-99
Summary: What would you risk to save the man you loved from destined death?
1. Chapter 1

Clara Oswald was alone and lost.

Now, the feeling of being lost was not uncommon for her. In fact, she felt it more often than most.

She had been travelling with the Doctor, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, for five years now.

He had shown her different planets, and universes and time periods that had yet to come as well as periods that were ancient history. She had seen the birth and death of planet Earth itself. She knew what it was like to be unfamiliar with her surroundings all too well.

However, this was entirely different.

The Doctor had taken her to America in the 1940's, at the peak of World War 2. He had assured her it would be all right, but she had her doubts.

When they walked out of the Tardis, Clara donned her 1940's, short, curly hair and dress and the Doctor was in his usual attire. No matter where they went, it seemed, the Doctor usually stuck to the same clothes and she ended up changing to fit in. She merely presumed that as a Time Lord he wore clothes that were timeless.

They roamed he streets for a while taking in the new setting which they were in, and it wasn't long before some sort of trouble arose. The Doctor took off towards the screams and Clara, in heels, walked as fast as she could.

Eventually, she lost track of the Doctor and cursed her shoe choice.

Cussing her heels, she took them off and took a seat on the pavement, rubbing her feet.

"Bloody heels," she muttered bitterly. "You just cost me a bit of action that the Doctor will never stop gloating about. Now I have no clue where the hell I am!"

"Don't blame the heels for that," a voice said behind her, bemused. "They're innocent in this, I promise."

The man sat down beside her wearing a casual shirt and trousers. His hair was dark and messy and his bright blue eyes shined as he smiled at her.

"You don't know the pain they've caused me," she chuckled.

"British!" The man exclaimed. "We don't get many Brits around these days. With the war and all people are scared to leave their homes let alone cross country," he sighed. He sat down next to her with a sigh.

"Well, I sort of came with a mate that the bloody heels made me lose track of."

"Ah, so there is some guilt here," he smirked and she rolled her eyes entertained. He watched her, growing a bit concerned. "Do you need help finding your friend?"

She sighed. "No, at least I don't think so. Even if he doesn't come looking for me, we sort of have this place we can meet up at. I know he'll go there, I just- it's complicated."

"Sounds like it. If you don't need help," he stood up and held out his hand and she frowned at it. "James Buchanan Barnes. You can call me Bucky."

"Clara Oswald," she replied, not shaking his hand. "You're not leaving are you? I said I could find my mate I didn't say I don't want company."

He smiled at her. "Sorry, Clara, but I have to find my own friend. His name is Steve and finding him is more urgent seeing as he tends to get into fights a lot more than he should seeing as he's barely your height and half your body mass," he rolled his eyes with a small smile as if he couldn't believe what he was saying himself.

"I can find him with you," Clara assured him. "Finding the Doctor is less urgent considering the fact that he seems to always survive whatever situation he stumbles into."

Bucky considered her for a moment before nodding. She darted up to him and he glanced upon the pair of heels in her hand. "I'll hold those for you," he offered and she grinned, clearly surprised.

"Th-Thank you," she handed the heels over, shocked.

"You seem surprised, does this Doctor friend of yours not know how to be a gentleman? Also, what sort of name is the Doctor anyway? Doctor who?" Bucky chuckled.

"No, no he does. Sometimes he's a right idiot but he does have manners when he's happy, and that's just his name. He picked it. Just the Doctor."

"What? People just call him Doctor? What happens if there's another doctor in the room?" Bucky wondered.

Clara considered his question. "I don't know really. I guess it just hasn't happened while I've been with him. I suppose it would be a very awkward moment."

"You say been with him… Are the two of you together?" Bucky asked casually.

"No, well yes," Clara sighed. "I don't know. I thought. A while ago I thought maybe, but he sort of changed. It's a long story but he changed and grew colder. Now, I honestly don't know anymore."

"How did he change?"

"It's really a long story," she insisted. "So, tell me about this Steve. You said he was quite small yet still got into fights, why would he do that?"

Bucky laughed. "Steve's an odd little guy. I've known him since we were kids and he was always the guy who stood up to the bullies, it didn't matter if they were three times his size and had been in sixth grade for four years, he would fight for what was right. He just, he almost gets himself killed everytime he does it but for some reason that's never what concerns him. He's always concerned about what happened to the victims of the bullies."

Clara watched Bucky talked about Steve with a smile on her face. It was clear to her that Bucky cared deeply for his friend. Bucky seemed to be a good man. A man she could trust while the Doctor was away. Especially since he had stopped and talked to her while dozens of others had just walked past her when she was clearly looking upset and defeated and had openly stated she was lost. He seemed kind and compassionate. Like he would be the type of person to donate all the money he had on him to a random person on the street because they were in need.

Just then he pair heard what distinctly sounded like a skull hitting a wall. They shared a horrified look and rushed down the alleyway they heard it from.

"HEY!" Clara shouted at the man that looked to be six feet punching the puny five foot boy. The boy appeared to be nearly unconscious and Clara turned the man towards her while Bucky helped the boy.

"Like picking on people half your size do ya?" She said, her words dripping in venom.

"Look lady, I don't wanna hit a girl." The man raised his hands in surrender and began to back away and she rolled her eyes. Pathetic.

She kicked him in the balls, bringing him down to her size. She grabbed his collar roughly. "Oh, but you'll hit a guy who can barely put up a fight as he is half your size ?! You disgust me," she punched him hard across the face and he dropped to the ground.

She clung her hand as it stung from the hard punch. She darted over to the boy and Bucky. "We have to go, That won't last long at all and I can almost guarantee that he'll be twice as angry when he wakes up."

Bucky ran over to the six foot man while the boy seemed to be clearly trying to get a clear grip on reality and helped him stand up.

"I- W- I just-"

"Don't try to talk, just go. Run!"

He shook his head breathlessly.

"No? What do you mean no? If he wakes up he will kill you," Clara assured him.

"I have to stay," the boy choked out.

Clara was shell- shocked, she looked at the boy, and didn't understand what on Earth made him feel he needed to stay and finish the fight or get killed. Most likely the latter would come first for him.

All of a sudden, Clara heard a groaning sound behind her before a sharp cry and the sound of a body hitting the wet pavement. She turned to see Bucky smirking at both of 's eyes widened when he saw the boy standing, but just barely.

He ran past Clara to the boy. "Steve! Steve are you okay?" Bucky did a quick glanced over his friend before letting out an irritated sigh. "You got your nose broken again?"

Clara nodded, finally understanding why he didn't want to leave. This was the infamous Steve. He stood up for what he believed in. He didn't back down from a fight.

"Man, what did you say to him?" Bucky muttered.

"I was waiting him out. Makes for a better comeback," Steve sighed.

"Well, then I guess we kinda stole your thunder, Steve. Sorry about that," Bucky apologized, clearly not looking apologetic at all.

Steve flipped him off and Bucky's eyebrows flew up. "Wooh, that's a risky one. I could have let kind Clara over here just let you get pummeled."

"Yeah, like that would have worked," she laughed before turning to Steve. "I'm Clara by the way. Clara Oswald."

"Nice to meet you, even though there are better ways to meet a pretty girl than a face covered in blood and a broken nose," Steve said, beginning to look very embarrassed. "I'm Steve Rogers."

She giggled. "Don't mention it, Steve. You know, my mum met my dad when he had a large leaf on his face, couldn't get it off, and was in the middle of bloody traffic. There are all sorts of odd ways to meet people."

He laughed at her, grateful for the comfort she provided.

The six foot man let out a deep moan from the ground that sounded like an earthquake as he rumbled from deep within his chest.

"And that's our cue to leave," Bucky announced, wrapping an arm around Steve and seemingly about to do the same to Clara before hesitating and placing his arm by his side.

Steve and Bucky began to walk away from her when she placed her hands on her hips and cleared her throat like a mother that was cross with you and you didn't know what for. They stopped in their tracks and turned to her.

"Are you just planning on leaving me?" She clarified and Bucky looked concerned at Steve who just raised his hands as if to say keep me out of this.

"Well, we found Steve. It's all good you can find the Doctor," Bucky assured her.

"Not so fast," she held up an impatient finger. "Do you know how to realign a broken nose?"

Bucky and Steve shared a look.

"No, we-," Bucky began before Clara cut him off.

"Exactly. So, you still need me, and the Doctor can wait, he's an old man he doesn't have to have it all right when he wants it he just thinks it needs to be that way." Clara walked past him and Bucky shared a surprised look with Steve.

So, they had a new member of their team.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N I forgot to say it last chapter but I do not own Doctor Who or Marvel. All characters found in the TV series, comics, or movies are not my own. I only own the plotline.**

* * *

Steve was battered, beaten down, and positively a wreck but he somehow managed to make it up the steps. Clara had to hand it to him. What he lacked in size he made up for in fighting spirit, and blimey did he have more than enough fighting spirit.

Bucky brought them back to his house and Clara opened the door for them as they trudged inside.

The flat was a nice quaint pace that looked like comfortable living for one or two people. It had a familiar homey vibe that Clara just couldn't shake as she glanced around the room.

Bucky placed Steve on the couch and ran to go get some ice. He came back as Clara sat beside Steve on the sofa.

"So, you never said. What did you say to him to make him so mad?" She wondered and he sighed deeply.

"He was picking on some kids, I tried to tell him to leave them alone. Guess he didn't like that too much," Steve shrugged nonchalantly.

Clara couldn't help but roll her eyes at Steve. He seemed to look at everything he did as if it were no big deal. It reminded her of a certain alien she spent far too much time with.

"What? Was he hitting them?" Bucky clarified.

"No, he heard their dad was drafted and I guess he thought it'd be a fun joke to scare them with war stories and telling them their dad was gonna die out there."

Clara was astounded. All those times in history class you read about the war you don't stop to think about the little kids who were affected by their parents going to war. Of course, you consider the poor children who are stuck in the midst of battle, but the kids getting bullied and harassed and maybe even losing their dads and brothers and uncles? She hadn't considered them even half as much.

"That's horrible," she said.

Steve and Bucky nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, he was being a real jerk," Steve agreed.

"So did you hit him or did he hit you?" Bucky wondered.

"Well, he got the first punch in right after I yelled at him to stop, and I just- uh- yeah…," he trailed off and Bucky nodded.

"So is chasing down bullies just a normal thing for you then?" Clara asked Steve.

"Not really. People usually start throwing punches when they disagree with me and I just figure standing up to them is better than running away. Especially when I know they'll just get to bully someone quicker if I bolt."

"That's incredibly brave," Clara admired and he gave her a small smirk.

"It would look more heroic if I didn't have a broken nose right now," he jested and she smiled.

"Seriously though, not many people would have the guts to do that. Bravo."

"Thanks," he winced as he shifted the ice on his nose.

Bucky watched her in awe. For the first time here was this girl who saw Steve for exactly who he was. Not this puny little kid but instead a brave hero who has saved dozens of kids on their block. She could actually be a good match for Steve, she was around the same height too, if that counted for anything.

"Right," Clara clapped her hands startling both boys. "We need to clean up all this blood it's all over his shirt and caked on his nose. Then, we can get started helping him get better. Do you have a first aid kit?"

Bucky nodded and gestured to a cupboard which Clara waltzed over to it. She opened the cupboard and grabbed the first aid kit only to find it was nearly empty.

She didn't know whether it was because of the sheer amount of fights Steve had been in or the war, but she wasn't planning on asking any time soon.

She took a deep breath and turned to the men. "Okay, Bucky, can you get him to a washroom? We first have to try to deal with the dried blood."

Bucky nodded and helped Steve up. "Come on, Steve."

They trudged to the washroom while Clara took a seat and felt around her pockets for her phone. That's right. Her dress had pockets.

She began to panic when she couldn't feel anything. "Bucky!" She called in distress.

Bucky darted out of the washroom, sensing her tone. "What's wrong?"

"Do you remember me having anything in my pockets when we met? Something about the size of my hand? It would be obvious just looking at my whole dress."

"No, sorry. Was it important?" He wondered. "Will it help with Steve?"

She sighed and raked her fingers through her hair. "It was my way to contact the Doctor. I was going to let him know that I wouldn't be back to our meet up spot anytime soon, but I guess I can't do that now." She shook her head. "No matter. He won't leave without me. At least I don't think he will."

She stood up and grabbed some cloth from the first aid kit. "All right. Did you get the blood off of him?"

Bucky nodded. She began to march past him before he grabbed her arm delicately.

"Listen, he may not look it but Steve is a fighter," Bucky said firmly.

"Yeah, I can see that. That's how he got his nose broken remember?" She joked but he just looked at her very seriously causing her smile to falter.

"I mean even when he needs it, he doesn't like people helping him. He's a good kid. But he's stubborn as hell."

She laughed. "I can see that."

He smiled warmly at her and she returned the gesture before walking to the washroom to help Steve.

After they cleaned up all the dried on blood which took a good twenty minutes and Steve changing into one of Bucky's shirt which was three times his size, Clara realized with a start that he looked even worse without all the blood. Before he put on Bucky's shirt, he had bruises that riddled his chest, he had cuts that wrung around his ears, his jaw looked some awful combination of purple, brown and black, and his lip was mangled and split so badly it hurt Clara to look at it. She could tell that Bucky was fighting hard not to look at his scars either.

Still, despite his many wounds and embarrassingly large shirt, Steve walked out of the washroom with his chin high.

Bucky announced that he was going to go soak Steve's shirt, leaving Clara alone with Steve.

"Hey, I might need stitches on this one," Steve told Clara pointing to his lip.

She smiled kindly and nodded, sitting on the sofa beside him.

"So what do you think happened to that bloke?" Clara wondered.

"What besides him making sure nobody knows he got his ass handed to him by a girl?" Steve laughed. "Congratulations on that one by the way. I would've done the same, but-"

"You were waiting him out?" Clara finished with a giggle.

"Exactly," Steve sighed.

"Don't mention it. It's my pleasure to show arrogant blokes who's boss."

He chuckled and nodded before letting out a deep sigh. "Listen, um about Bucky?"

Clara turned to him, innocently awaiting whatever he planned to say. Steve gulped at receiving her full attention. Still, he knew he had to get this out before things got out of hand and she started getting the wrong idea.

"I think, well- I have a pretty good idea- he probably wants us to-"

"Start dating? Get married? Have children?" She laughed. "I kind of guessed from the look he was giving us ever since we walked in and I said you were brave. Also, by the fact that he just mysteriously has been gone for the past six minutes when soaking a shirt really shouldn't take that long."

"Yeah," Steve nodded awkwardly. "That. He means well doing this. He really does, but that's not. I mean not to say that you're not beautiful. You are, but I'm not exactly comfortable. Not that you make me uncomfortable. I just-"

Clara cut him off with a sharp laugh. "Steve? It's all right. I'm not even going to be around long. My mate and I will be leaving soon. If I can just find him first," she looked only slightly troubled.

Clara would be more immediately concerned with finding the Doctor if she was in the midst of a very real, very terrifying threat. The only threats here were a man the same height as her and half her muscle mass and a very large, very adorable army man that she couldn't help but admit was gorgeous.

An awkward silence ensued and Steve had an overwhelming urge to change the subject. "So, um, where did you learn to realign a broken nose?" Steve wondered.

"Well, originally I started learning how to deal with wounds because I was this sort of live-in nanny slash babysitter slash caretaker for these two kids after their mum died. The practice stuck when I began travelling about with this reckless mate of mine. He can usually recover from these things fairly quickly but he likes to have immediate relief from the pain. He likes everything immediately, my mate," she sighed with a mixture of irritation and adoration.

"What's his name?" Steve asked.

"The Doctor."

"Doctor who?"

Clara chuckled. "I can see why he's so obsessed with that," Clara mumbled. "Just the Doctor."

"Okay," Steve muttered awkwardly.

Another long silence ensued but slightly less awkward. Only slightly.

By then Bucky waltzed into the room and tossed an ice cloth at Steve. "Put that on your face. Okay, Clara. It's been a pleasure but it's almost night. Can you and the Doctor stop by tomorrow? Maybe, you can have a look at Steve's lips?" Bucky asked very casually.

Have a look at his lips? He's got to be kidding.

Clara bit her lip to keep from laughing and Steve's eyes inflated.

"No, I think you can handle that properly for yourself, mate," Clara told him with a pat on his back. "I will still come over tomorrow though. Wouldn't want poor Steve to die in your hands now would I?"

Clara winked at Steve and waved goodbye to Bucky. "Bye!"

Clara walked through the unfamiliar streets, following her memory to where the Tardis was parked. Maybe, there she could find her phone as well. She assumed it had just simply dropped it in the desperate rush to catch up with the Doctor in her stubborn heels.

She had to admit she would miss the two men. They had shown her genuine kindness and allowed her into their lives when she was alone and lost. It was rare that you found that kind of unconcerned kindness in her time period. Nowadays, people were more concerned with the possibility of being murdered or robbed.

Regardless, she sighed, they were still long gone in her time. Either that or old men too ancient to remember a girl from what looked to be their early twenties.

Still, that Bucky bloke was incredibly kind and caring. She admired him for the way he cared for Steve. He was a tall, strong, handsome man. He could have easily been the most popular boy at school. He could have hundreds of mates and be concerned with much more than the small, skinny weakling who was unable to even put up a proper fight because he was so small. However, he stayed by Steve's side and cared for him regardless. That said so much about him.

Just then, Clara stopped in her tracks.

The Tardis was gone.

"No, no, no, no, no!" She screamed, running around the place where the Tardis once was. "You did NOT leave me here. You did not leave me stranded!" She bellowed as random bystanders gave her funny looks.

She collapsed onto the ground, not truly allowing herself to believe she was now stuck in the 1940's.

Her mind raced. He wouldn't just abandon her.

He couldn't.

He wouldn't dare.

But he did.

She looked around at everyone who was now staring at her with a mixture of concern and amusement as they watched her.

She took a deep breath, wiped away a few stray tears that had escaped, stood up, and walked back in the direction she came.

If she was truly stuck in the 1940's there were only two people who could help her not be abandoned on the street.


	3. Chapter 3

Bucky grumbled as he heard the frantic knock on his door. It was probably Steve coming to talk about that girl again. Not that Bucky minded of course. The pair would be perfect together. If he could just get her to cut back on the sarcasm. He had to admit it was amusing though, and she was in fact a beautiful girl who was fascinating as well as intelligent. However, that was not for him to say. He was supposed to be setting her up with Steve, not developing feelings for her. That was kind of the opposite of the point.

He was already in his pyjama pants for bed when the knock came. He trudged to the door with his toothbrush in his mouth and toothpaste dribbling down his chin. He flung the door open, not paying any mind to who was there as he assumed it was Steve.

"Charming. To say the least," a feminine voice remarked with amusement in her tone.

His eyes widened and he turned to see Clara Oswald standing at his door with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face.

"Do you always answer the door like this? Because while I don't necessarily love the toothpaste on the chin thing," she gestured to his chin and he wiped it away frantically while she giggled, "I could definitely get used to the whole answering the door shirtless." She said, grinning at his bare chest.

"Like that do you?" He smirked.

"Oh, hell yes," she said admiring his six pack.

He was about to continue flirting with her, gazing at her beautiful figure, when he remembered with a start that he wasn't supposed to be doing that in the first place.

"Wh- uh, what are you even doing back here?" He asked.

Her smile automatically disintegrated. "I- well, remember my mate? The Doctor?"

"You mentioned him plenty of times. Yes, yes I do."

"He kind of left me alone here."

"What about that meet up spot you told me about? Wouldn't he be there?"

"That's where it gets difficult. You see the meetup spot was kind of like his car if you will and he drove away." She sat down on the sofa

Bucky nodded, understanding, and sat down beside her. She liked that he was very clearly listening to her and engaged in what she was saying. She added it to the list of many things there were to admire about him.

"I don't really live around here, or anywhere even remotely close so I was wondering if I could maybe stay here for a while? I dunno how long, until he comes back or I guess until I can get a job here. I just- I really don't know what to do now." She began to tear up and placed her hands over her eyes so he wouldn't see her scared and devastated.

He rubbed her back soothingly. He could tell that she was desperate right now and just needed a friend.

"You can stay here as long as you need. Whether it's a couple days, weeks, months or years. I won't mind so long as you're okay."

She sniffled and looked back up at him. "Thank you," she mumbled.

"I look out for my friends," he replied and enveloped her in a hug.


End file.
